Beyond Any Form

Beyond Any Form (lit. I am neither Angel nor Devil) is a collaborative studio album by Persian traditional musicians Homayoun Shajarian and Tahmoures Pournazeri, as vocalist and composer respectively.

The album was unveiled on March 11, 2014, in a ceremony held in Vahdat Hall.

Beyond Any Form includes eight songs in Persian language based on lyrics from renowned Persian classical poet Mowlana Jalaleddin Rumi and contemporary poets Shafiei Kadkani, Simin Behbahani and Hossein Monzavi.

Composer Tahmoures Pournazeri describes the album as an "Iranian contemporary music" album, lacking Radif and inspired by classical, Tanbur, Flamenco and Kurdish music.

The 5th track, is based on a melody from Paco de Lucía and the 7th track is played improvisationally.

The album also features American composer David K. Garner, Indian Sitar virtuoso Shujaat Khan, Venezuelan flautist Pedro Eustache and American blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson.

Beyond Any Form was among the best-selling albums in Iran.

A music video of Why Did You Leave Me? was directed by Baran Kosari for the unveiling ceremony, featuring a number of Iranian actors, including Sahar Dolatshahi, Navid Mohammadzadeh and Mehrdad Sedighian among others.

Personnel
Credits are adapted from Beyond Any Form liner notes.


 * Homayoun Shajarian – vocals
 * Tahmoures Pournazeri – composer, recording supervisor, photographer, setar (track 1–5, 7–8), barbat (track 3, 6) , daf (track 3)
 * Additional musicians
 * David Garner – arrangement
 * Ramón Stagnaro – guitar (track 8)
 * Sohrab Pournazeri – kamancheh (track 3, 6, 8)
 * Jimmy Johnson – bass (track 5, 8)
 * Shujaat Khan – sitar (track 6)
 * Pedro Eustache – duduk (track 6)
 * Hamidreza Taghavi – santour (track 8)
 * John Wakefield – percussion (track 5–8)
 * Shahab Paranj – kouzeh & kick (track 8)
 * Mehmet Akatai – darbuka, bendir (track 3)
 * Mahyar Torayhi – santour (track 3)
 * Kaveh Grayeli – setar (track 3)


 * Philip Brezina – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Stephanie Bibbu – violin (track 1, 6)
 * David Ryther – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Peter Masek – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Jory Fankuchen – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Natalie Carducci – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Noemy Lafrenais – violin (track 1, 6)
 * Evan Buttemer – viola (track 1)
 * Nils Bultman – viola (track 1)
 * Cilo Tilton – viola (track 1)
 * Elizabeth Chio – viola (track 1)
 * Andrei Gorbatenko – bass (track 1)
 * Alden Cohen – bass (track 1)
 * Seth Osborn – piano (track 1)
 * Roshanak Kaymanesh – chor (track 1)
 * Samira Mohseni – chor (track 1)
 * Shuin Corrasco – cello (track 1, 6)
 * Joanne De Mars – cello (track 1, 6)


 * Artistic personnel
 * Pouneh Mirlou – graphic design and illustration
 * Neda Moradi – illustrator
 * Arash Gharighi – photographer
 * Behrouz Badiei – photographer
 * Hananeh Tabatabaei – photographer
 * Soroush Payandeh – photographer
 * Technical personnel
 * Sadroddin Hosseinkhani – producer
 * Mehdi Beshkoufeh – associate producer
 * Adam Monuz – sound engineer
 * Jesse Nichols – sound engineer
 * Alberto Hernandez – sound engineer
 * Jill Tengan – sound engineer
 * Omid Nikbin – sound engineer
 * Reza Sadeghi – mixing